Alfred Mutua's governorship hangs on a balance as he loses round one of election petition against his August 8, win

- Machakos governor Alfred Mutua has lost round one of election petition against him

- The Machakos governor's win had been petitioned by former Kathiani MP Wavinya Ndeti

Machakos County governor Alfred Mutua has a mountain to deal with after losing round one of an ongoing legal tussle to defend his August 8, win against his arch rival, former Kathiani MP Wavinya Ndeti.

Mutua's twisted fate follows a High Court ruling delivered on Friday,November 10, dismissing an application he had filled seeking to dismiss an election petition filed against his August 8 win by Wavinya Ndeti.

Delivering the ruling,Justice Aggrey Muchelule said that Dr Mutua's grounds seeking a declaration that Wavinya’s petition against his August 8,win was irredeemably and fatally defective, failed to meet the required legal threshold to call for the dismissal of the petition case.

The Machakos governor,in his application had argued that a vote for the him was equally a vote for the deputy governor and therefore inseparable, which means his deputy, was elected by the voters of Machakos County as well.

“A complaint against the election of the governor is essentially against the deputy governor as the IEBC does not conduct separate election for the two positions. If the petitioner does not contest the election of the DG, the petitioner cannot sustain a petition against the Governor,” Read Mutua's earlier application submitted by his lawyer Waweru Gatonye.

Counteracting the governor's application,Justice Muchelule in his ruling said the inclusion of the deputy governor in the petition was not an important requirement by law as a condition to sustain a petition against Governor’s win.

Justice Muchelule held that it was the governor who will lose his seat if his election is validly and successfully challenged, with his deputy consequently suffering collateral damage.

“If the validity of the election of the governor is successfully contested in court, then both the DG and the governor will leave office. In my view the governor will be the respondent in the petition because he is the one directly elected under the constitution” said Muchelule.

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